PMBOK Sixth Edition-Are you prepared for new PMP exam from 26 March 2018? No!

Project Management practices are evolving in today’s dynamic environment. PMI has been able to keep up with the pace of these changes and has been flexible to adopt emerging practices like Agile. While keeping up with the trend, there have been a few amendments in PMBOK Sixth Edition. Here are the core changes that PMP aspirants should know as they prepare for the exam based on sixth edition.

Each Knowledge Area will contain a section titled “Approaches for Agile, Iterative, and Adaptive Environments”, which shall describe how these practices integrate in project settings.

Realigned Chapters – A few chapters are realigned in front end (Chapters 1 to 3). The information from Chapter 1 to 3 will be furnished in two chapters namely Chapters 1 and 2.

A new Chapter 3 will be devoted to “The Role of the Project Manager”, where many aspects of the Project Manager’s role will be specifically mapped to PMI Talent Triangle.

There will be Process Tailoring, which implies analyzing the project to determine how much emphasis shall be laid on each process (based on the scope and size of the project).

There will be various notations throughout new PMBOK® Guide differentiating between processes that are “Ongoing” (continuously executing) vs. "Non-ongoing processes”. This concept will be emphasized for the first time in sixth edition.

The Project Scope vs. Product Scope concept will also be emphasized for the first time.

The Earned Value tool kit will now include “Earned Schedule Management".

There will be a distinction between "Communication" (communication between two people) and "Communications" (artifacts, such as published e-mails).

The new Lessons Learned Register is now part of the set of ITTOs. Project Managers will now be encouraged to prepare updates on a frequent basis (not just at the end of the project).

The standard has more voluntary instead of mandatory tone in some areas. For instance, for Requirements Collection, they might now say something to the effect that, “Here is a list of possible choices of tools. Choose any of these that best might fit your current project.”

“Tools and Techniques” will be grouped under common headings.

More emphasis will be laid on strategic and business knowledge, including discussion of project management business documents.

Each Knowledge Area features four new sections:
-Key Concepts
-Trends and Emerging Practices
-Tailoring Considerations
- Considerations for Agile/Adaptive Environments

Instead of earlier 47 processes, there will now be 49 processes.

Three new processes will be added, while one process will be deleted.

New processes:

"Manage Project Knowledge"

"Control Resources"

"Implement Risk Responses"

Deleted processes:

The process “Close Procurements” has been removed since its functionality has been consolidated into "Close Project or Phase” process

“Plan Stakeholder Management” has been renamed as "Plan Stakeholder Engagement"

“Control Stakeholder Engagement” has been renamed as "Monitor Stakeholder Engagement"

These changes reflect PMI’s determination in ensuring that the standard confirms to the changing business environment. The expected outcome is to have increased number of successful projects. If you are planning to appear for the exam before December 2017 you are advised to follow fifth edition of PMBOK. However, going ahead, you shall prepare with PMBOK Sixth Edition.